jjvw

Greetings all,

I am soon to be the new owner of this old Schwinn mountain bike frame. I've done a bit of research, but every '80's Schwinn mountain frame I've seen so far has a unicrown fork and seemingly different geometry. Does anyone know more about this?





My plan is to build this up as a commuter / trail riding bike with an internally geared hub. It will be reminiscent of an old English 3-speed but with higher end components.

Sorry about the giant pics. I stole them from the auction listing.

Thanks!

pastorbobnlnh 

Are you certain it's a 26" MTB frame? It could be for a 27" wheels and cantilever brakes.
https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...985Ltwt14.html

BobHufford

That may be an '84 High Sierra. Check the headbadge for a light, four-digit stamp. The first three will be the ordinal day of the year, the last will be the last digit of the year of assembly.

Here are the specs for the MTBs:

https://www.firstflightbikes.com/schwinn_specs.htm

Tom Findley has some of the MTB catalogs up. '85 shows a similar model with that fork:

https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...985_atb06.html

Bob

jjvw

Pastor Bob, I don't think it's the Voyager pictured in the link, although I certainly would not complain if it turned out to be that!

When the frame arrives I will post the SN. Right now I'm thinking its a plain old '84-'85 Sierra, assuming that this is the Midnight Blue described on the firstflight page listed above.

BobHufford

I don't think that is Midnight Blue. My '85 Voyageur SP is what Schwinn called Midnight Blue and it is a whole lot darker (as you would expect at "Midnight") ...

Bob

jjvw

Then its still a mystery for the moment. The '83 Sierra is listed as being just "blue," but it had a one piece crank. Mine also matches the frame description of the '85 High Sierra and the '85 Cimarron. Hopefully it has Suntour dropouts.

redxj

I have an 1984 High Sierra in black and it is not even lugged. The chainstays and the center pull brake bridge all look the same as the above photos. My fork is different as well. Mine looks exactly like the one in this 84 catalog page

BobHufford

It wouldn't be the Cimarron -- that was fillet brazed at the front. The High Sierra might be as well (it was in '87 anyway).

Bob

jjvw

At long last it is here! I'll get new pics soon. Meanwhile here is the S/N and a couple of other details.

CS472494 on BB shell
No other numbers stamped anywhere.

Tang Falcon headset
Tang BB
"Made in Japan" sticker on the seat tube.

If I'm reading the S/N correctly, then this is a 1981 frame. I am suspicious of this, though. My frame does not look like a King Sting 5, to my knowledge the only ATB possibility from that year.

Lamplight

The chainstays really scream '80s mtb to me as opposed to a touring bike, and with lugs I would expect it to be early to mid '80s. I have an '88 Sierra and it is very different, but I know I've seen some lugged High Sierras. It looks like a nice frame. I'll be anxious to see pictures of the bike completed!

cyclotoine

it would make a sweet 26" trekking rig.

jjvw

It is without a doubt a MTB frame. I'm beginning my search for 2 1/2" wide street/trail tires.

jjvw

An '84-85 High Sierra seems to be the best fit based on these catalog pages.
https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...984Ltwt19.html
https://www.trfindley.com/flschwinn_1...985_atb09.html

The '84 came in a "Smokey Pearl" whatever color that is. In the right light I guess that could describe mine. The '85 had a Falcon headset, which mine still has. Maybe this one fell in between production runs. There are no remains of a model name sticker on the top tube or anywhere else. There is just a worn Schwinn decal on the seat tube.

McDave

My High Sierra is the same color (or close to) as your frame, has a '84 dated head badge, but isn't lugged like yours...

https://buggytexas.com/highsierra.html

(note - components are not original)

g-funk

That front fork has me thinking it's something pretty cool, it's not a true bi-plane fork but it's very close. It's absolutely a mountain bike and I'm pretty sure that those forks were gone by '85
edit: however that rear reflector being on that bike for 20 something years and the cable hanger on the back has me thinking more low end, but it does have forged dropouts. I say build it and ride the crap out of it , but then I always say that.

jjvw

I thinks it's better than low end. From all the catalogs I've paged through, only the nicer frames had forged drops and cantis. The cable hanger also allows for a Blackburn or similar higher end rack to be installed. No more Pletcher for me. Also, this is a Japanese made frame. Weren't the cheap ones produced in Taiwan?

McDave, your Smokey Pearl looks pretty close to mine. In addition the fillet brazing, your fork crown and DT cable guides are also different.

Can anyone explain the 1981 bottom bracket? Left over parts, perhaps? I've reading more about Schwinn S/Ns and I'm gathering that the '80's were a weird time with funny dating standards.

ebr898

As ever-one has mentioned it is not a High Sierra from 85. I have one on my stand and it has a "fast back" style seat stays and is tig welded. The suntour drop outs on my 84 also have axle centering pins.

jjvw

Here are my pics. Note the fastback seat stays.

jjvw

Here comes the first component. I just grabbed these Topline road cranks.

I thought they would be nicely reminiscent of an old cottered crank.

Lamplight

I always loved the look of Topline cranks.

Bikedued

I like that frame! Nice color too. The only schwinn MTB I have is the Impact A later eighties(maybe early 90's?) full 4130 frame. It fits me perfectly, and is quite a nice handling bike. Here's what I have done with it so far. I am still thinking a little shorter stem, I have one but it needs a blast and paint and or polishing. Fenders are in the plans. The Bontrager selects have NICE grip!,,,,BD

jjvw

The cranks arrived a few days ago. Here is what I did to them.



I kept the 39 tooth and bought an old Shimano 52t. I cut off the teeth and ground it down into a bash guard/chain guard. I also grabbed some new dust caps and shiny new FSA chainring bolts.

More parts to follow as money allows...

jjvw

Here's an unexpected discovery. Yesterday I bought and installed a Stronglight A9 1" English threaded headset. It went on without incident until I tried to insert a French stem I happened to have laying around. It wouldn't fit! I grabbed a calipers to check the ID of the steerer tube only to find out it measures 21.15 mm! According to Sheldon this is a BMX size.

Could anyone with a comparable bike measure their stem?

jjvw

An Update.

I had the steerer tube reamed out to accept a standard 1 inch quill. The last parts that I'm waiting for are a polished Paul High Flange front hub and a Shimano Nexus Inter 8 Premium hub. Both will be laced to a pair of Velocity Aeroheat rims with 2.5" Maxxis Holy Roller tires. To complete the English 3 speed theme, I will eventually get some SS or aluminum fenders to go on it.

Here is what I have put on the frame so far:

Strong Seatpost
Brooks B-67
Stronglight A-9 headset
Nitto Dirtdrop stem
Nitto All Rounder bars drilled for internal cable routing
Dia-Comp inverse brake levers
Paul Neo Retro Cantis
VO Constructuer Straddle Cable Roller Hangers
Dura Ace 8 speed index lever mounted on a Paul Thumbie.
Topline cranks (see above)
MKS Touring Light pedals

Bikedued

Black Dimension brand cork grips, and you're done!! Looking good!,,,,BD